A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research
Institute (TSRI) has identified specific cellular events that appear key to
lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease that afflicts tens of millions of people
worldwide. The findings suggest that blocking this pathway in lupus-triggering
cells could be a potent weapon against the disease.

Zebrafish, the staple of genetic research, may hold the answer to repairing damaged retinas and returning eye-sight to people. University of Alberta researchers discovered that a zebrafish's stem
cells can selectively regenerate damaged photoreceptor cells.

The most sensitive patch of mammalian skin known to us isn't human but
on the star-shaped tip of the star-nosed mole's snout. Researchers
studying this organ have found that the star has a higher proportion of
touch-sensitive nerve endings than pain receptors, according to a study
published Jan. 30 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Diana Bautista and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley and Vanderbilt University.

Jasper, a
7-year-old rescue dog from San Jose, has a personality that endears him
to everyone -- even to cats. He also has lymphoma, a cancer that sprouts
from the body's defense system and is similar to non-Hodgkin lymphoma
in people.

Right now, Jasper's treatment plan is based on
laboratory tests, ultrasounds and the expertise of his veterinarian,
Linda Fineman, a cancer specialist at the SAGE center in Campbell. In the future, however, tests on Jasper's DNA
could determine the best medications for him and show how long they'll
work, according to scientists who study the DNA of dogs. And those
researchers are increasingly discovering that cancer and other diseases
are caused by the same genetic mutations in pooches and people. So
as scientists develop new therapies for canine cancers, they're also
finding more effective methods to treat similar problems in humans.

In the first study that non-invasively measures oxytocin levels in wild animals, researchers have found in chimpanzees
that this hormone likely plays a key role in maintaining social relations among both related and non-related animals.

Vanishing White Matter (VWM) disease is a devastating condition that
destroys the brain's white matter. This white matter protects the axons
of neurons, and leads to seizures and the progressive loss of motor
function, eyesight, and speech. Also known as Childhood Ataxia with
Central Nervous System Hypomyelination (CACH), the disease has no cure,
and victims do not typically live longer than the early teens.

Marisol passed away from the disease in 2008, but her
DNA pattern and specific genetic mutation were the basis for Prof.
Elroy-Stein's breakthrough development of the first population of
laboratory mice — called "Marisol's mice" — with a VWM disease mutation.
With this invaluable biological tool in place, researchers have been
able to make important progress into understanding how the disease
functions.

Through these mice, the researchers were able to
discover that VWM disease was in essence a developmental disorder — the
mutation causes delayed development of the myelin that forms after
birth, they reported in the journal Brain. The researchers' most recent findings, published in the journal PLoS One, add to this understanding.

Historically, the "lab rats" scientists use to test new medicines and
run studies have been, well, rats. But that may be changing. A growing
number of laboratories have begun using zebrafish as their test
subjects, and there is reason to believe that trend is growing.

A new study has found that tamoxifen, a well-known breast cancer drug,
can counteract some pathologic features in a mouse model of Duchenne
muscular dystrophy (DMD). At present, no treatment is known to produce
long-term improvement of the symptoms in boys with DMD, a debilitating
muscular disorder that is characterized by progressive muscle wasting,
respiratory and cardiac impairments, paralysis, and premature death.

In a study published in the January 18 issue of Cell, researchers
from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer
Center have developed a new method to visualize aging and tumor growth
in mice using a gene closely linked to these processes.

Usually, results from a new study help scientists inch their way toward
an answer whether they are battling a health problem or are on the verge
of a technological breakthrough. Once in a while, those results give
them a giant leap forward. In a preliminary study in a canine model of
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), University of Missouri scientists
showed exactly such a leap using gene therapy to treat muscular
dystrophy.

Scientists at The University of Manchester have made a surprising
finding after studying how tadpoles re-grow their tails which could have
big implications for research into human healing and regeneration.

Most people might see cockroaches as good-for-nothing pests, but this
germ-ridden insect could be an indirect source of new antibiotics for
humans.Cockroaches host the larvae of a parasitic type of wasp, which spend
their formative days eating the bacteria-laden body of the cockroach
from the inside out.Researchers have discovered the wasp larva secretes chemicals that sanitize the decidedly unsanitary guts of the cockroach.These germ-killing chemicals could eventually be developed for human uses.